Dependence
by GhostofaGirl15
Summary: "Athena didn't need anyone fawning over her or doing things for her. She wasn't Aphrodite. So, why, all of a sudden, was she thinking about the Sun God?" Apollo/Athena. Oneshot.


_Dependence. _That was one word Athena didn't know the meaning of. Sure, it was nice to have her father love her as much as he did, that men (mortal and immortal) fawned all over her (all of which was unrequited). It was nice to have a friend like Nike around before The Accident. But the bottom line was that Athena didn't _need _anybody. She was strong and independent and didn't need anyone to do things for her or help her. She could do them on her own. Basically, she wasn't Aphrodite.

So, why, all of a sudden, was she thinking about the Sun God, Apollo, more than usual? Normally, when she thought of him, she saw him as a friend. There were the occasional times when he did something morally wrong that Athena could not stand for, but overall he was a decent being. He was loyal to the people he cared for and intensely protective of his twin. Athena saw all of these as good qualities in someone. It was okay to think about them.

What it _wasn't_ okay to think about was how truly _beautiful _Apollo was (but, honestly, what God or Goddess, save for Hephaestus, wasn't?). She shouldn't notice these things on the God. She wasn't interested in sex or anything like all of the other Gods and Goddesses (except for a few), and yet, she found Apollo to be the most beautiful God on Olympus (even more than Ares, and while Athena hated him, she knew that was a hard feat). It also wasn't okay that she was imagining holding hands with him… sometimes even going as far as kissing him. She realized that those things would be nice, but wouldn't -couldn't- want anything to do with them.

She saw how others got on the matter of love. There were mortals, who either fell in love with one of them, or a fellow mortal. Most, ended in heartbreak, unless Aphrodite decided to bless them. Then there were her fellow Olympians. Most of their relationships could be torn apart easily, from Hades and Persephone to Ares and Aphrodite. One thing usually stood in their way. For Hades and Persephone, it was Demeter. Athena knew that Demeter loved Persephone very much, and had to have her those six months, but she also knew how much Hades felt for her, hating losing her. For Ares and Aphrodite, it was Hephaestus, Ares' own brother, who happened to be Aphrodite's husband. He was furious at their affair and wanted to keep them apart. Even her parents had problems because of her father's obvious infidelity.

When she saw love in this light, she was glad she wanted no part of it. It was a messy affair that usually ended in heartbreak and disaster for at least one or more parties. Athena had enough sense to know this. But then she looked at Eros and Psyche, and saw how they loved each other and overcame the odds and were together. Usually, when she thought of them, she thought again of Apollo, but quickly shook it from her head. She knew they would never -could never- be together.

She never mentioned it, to anyone. How could she? How could she say that she had… fallen (for lack of a better word) for the God? She couldn't. She would be shunned… or even killed. This had to stay a secret, from everyone. Even her father (who she hated keeping things from). She had to work through this herself.

She doesn't know when the feelings or whatever started, she just knew that they did. Usually, when she talked to Apollo, they were always arguing because -while Athena got along with Apollo alright occasionally- they disagreed on so many different things. It was hard to believe that she couldn't get him out of her head for that reason. As she thought about it, there was a time when she realized she felt… something for Apollo, something more than friendship or contempt, that is.

_Someone was harassing Artemis (Athena couldn't remember who at this point. Possibly Poseidon, she wouldn't put it beneath him), and Apollo defended her, along with Athena, who stepped in the minute there was trouble, knowing fully well that Artemis could take care of herself, but not wanting to risk it. Afterwards, Artemis had smiled and thanked her before leaving. Apollo smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder, before leaving as well. Athena couldn't believe it. Where the golden haired boy had touched her was now tingly. She didn't know what it meant, but didn't like it. Not at all. _

She hated her feelings for him. She felt like she was betraying everyone. She _was _betraying everyone. But she couldn't help it. She was smart about it, though. She didn't run around like a love-struck school girl with a crush (she left that to Aphrodite when she left from secret rendezvous with Ares), but she had noticed that she was happier when Apollo was around, even if they were fighting. The only one that she suspected knew anything about it was Aphrodite, as she was the Goddess of Love and Beauty, but she kept her mouth shut. Why? Athena didn't know. Maybe Aphrodite knew that Athena wouldn't hesitate to duel her if she said anything. Or maybe Aphrodite knew how hard forbidden love was, because of her feelings for Ares.

But while she was always happier when Apollo was around, she hated the power he was beginning to have over her (not that she'd _die _for him or anything crazy like that… who was _that _desperate, honestly?), but when they were arguing, Athena would give up her side more easily now, just conceding victory to the lyre player, merely to see the smirk of victory appear on his beautiful face. It made her sick that the butterflies appeared whenever she saw that smirk.

As she had thought a million times, though, they could never be together. She was a Virgin Goddess, and really wanted nothing to do with sex or anything of that nature. And she knew that Apollo did. She wasn't clueless about the countless number of women (and some men) Apollo had had relations with. She knew that they'd be all wrong for each other in other ways, too. They always argued, they'd want different things, they'd -for lack of a better term- destroy each other.

Yes, Athena knew and believed all of these things. She knew they would never be together, she knew that he'd have many more relations and she'd have none (she didn't want to have any), and she knew that they were spinning in two completely different orbits. And yet, she still thought of the golden haired boy and what it would be like to hold his hand or (sometimes) even kiss him. There was a part of her that really wanted those things, but the other part of her knew she would never -could never- have.

_Fin._

**So… I'm going to apologize for this crappy oneshot right now. I know that Athena's EXTREMELY OOC (is that the right word?) I tried, though, I really, really did. What did you guys think? I love Greek Mythology, so I know how OOC Athena is, and I promise I'll work on it. I just wanted to write something to get into this fandom.**

**Also, I'm thinking of starting a Greek Mythology RPG. Would anyone be interested? I'm looking for at least the twelve main Gods and Goddesses of Olympus (and I would play Athena, so that leaves the other eleven). Please either PM me or let me know in the review if you'd be interested and/or who you'd like to be.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Greek Gods, even the ones I didn't use in my story. I just love learning, reading, and writing for them. But they all belong to the myths of Greece.**


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